Research Lead - Securing Frontier AI

The organization is seeking an accomplished technical leader to drive an ambitious frontier AI security research agenda. As Research Lead Securing Frontier AI youll direct a comprehensive research portfolio focused on ensuring that the worlds most important AI systems are appropriately secured and addressing critical challenges at the intersection of AI information security and national security.

You will be responsible for managing significant research budgets and personnel overseeing complex technical research and policy analysis projects and leading multidisciplinary teams of policy researchers engineers and scientists. Your work will shape recommendations for the White House regulatory agencies the intelligence community other national governments and industry leaders.

Your team will communicate findings to both technical and non-technical audiences through quick-turnaround policy briefs and detailed technical analyses. A recent example of this type of research includes work on protecting frontier AI model weights from theft and misuse.

This position is structured as a focused two-year appointment to create the urgency needed to drive ambitious change in this rapidly evolving field. Every day of your tenure will count toward achieving ambitious projects in AI security. The appointment may be renewed for an additional year with options for longer-term employment thereafter.

Qualifications

All research positions require excellent analytic skills; the ability to communicate clearly and effectively both orally and in writing; the ability to work effectively as a member of a multi-disciplinary team; and a strong commitment to high-quality rigorous analysis and objectivity.

Required:

• 6 years of technical experience in security engineering software engineering firmware engineering hardware engineering or related fields

• 6 years of technical management experience including leading cross-functional teams managing project budgets and mentoring and developing team members

• Demonstrated ability to successfully lead complex projects to completion

• Proficiency in Python Java C/C or other popular programming languages

• Ability to develop rigorous and comprehensive threat models and identify potential system vulnerabilities

• Strong ability to communicate effectively in English both verbally and in writing

• Ability to reason about policy options given different technical considerations

• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative multidisciplinary environment

• Fluency with MS Office suite

Preferred:

• Graduate of the Computer Network Operations Development Program (CNODP) Remote Interactive Operator Training (RIOT) Future Operator Readiness Growth and Enrichment (FORGE) or equivalent experience

• Experience with red team operations or offensive cyber capabilities development

• Understanding of advanced persistent threat (APT) tactics techniques and procedures (TTPs) and experience with defending against them

• Ability to think creatively about offensive and/or defensive techniques and strategies beyond compliance with existing regulations

• Familiarity with U.S. cybersecurity agencies authorities and policy development processes

• Experience working in or with government on cybersecurity policy

• Experience with advising non-technical stakeholders on security topics

• Familiarity with the AI/ML hardware stack (e.g. GPUs TPUs data center design)

• Familiarity with the AI/ML software stack (e.g. CUDA PyTorch TensorFlow Ray)

• Experience working on AI research ML model training or model deployment

• Experience with securing AI systems

Education Requirements

The role is hiring at either the specialist or expert level of experience. Minimum education requirements at the specialist level include:

• A PhD in Computer Science Computer Engineering Electrical Engineering Cybersecurity Information Security Information Technology Mathematics Applied Mathematics Physics Applied Physics Engineering Physics Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Engineering and Public Policy Technology and Policy National Security Policy Policy Analysis Political Science International Relations or similar with at least 3 years of relevant professional experience is required.

OR

• A Masters degree in the fields listed above with at least 6 years of relevant professional experience is required.

OR

• A Bachelors degree in the fields listed above with at least 8 years of relevant professional experience is required.

Masters or PhD preferred.

Security Clearance
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government clearance is preferred but not required.

Location
Hiring for this position in San Francisco CA; Washington DC; Santa Monica CA; Pittsburgh PA; and Boston MA. A hybrid work arrangement is available combining work from home and on-site options. Fully remote work will also be considered.

Writing or Code Sample
Either a writing sample or a code sample is required for this position. This sample can use a recent previously written paper or technical report (e.g. journal article masters thesis or paper written for coursework research project technical analysis briefings) or source code showing technical expertise in relevant domains.